Is Boxing 4,5 or 6 toons difficult without 3rd party software? Interested only if it is easily done using alt/tab or minimizing screens on taskbar.
I will be boxing this round as I have boxed in the past and I thought boxing without third party was fairly easy. I boxed 3+ toons but I will be trying [Unmentioned 3rd Party Software] this round. The setup on [Unmentioned 3rd Party Software] looks fairly complex so I might just default to old school.
It took me some time to adapt to two boxing, and later three boxing. I like to think I'm pretty good at it now. However I find boxing 4+ characters an incredible chore. I personally couldn't recommend to another player, that they play anymore than three characters at a time. If you're dead set on attempting it, I would make good use of custom socials and organize all of your character UI's in more or less the same manner. You need to spend as little time on each character as possible assuming you intend to utilize each to the best of your abilities.
I 4 box on live and use nothing more then Alt+tab. I've never used ISOboxer or any other helper programs. but an all caster group is easier to box as you do not have to position anyone or even make sure your facing the right direction as spell casting is 360 degree. Also mercs help boxing on live as I do not have to worry about healing as much
Not using a 3rd party program will cause some lag with your guys. It's not a problem camping stuff, but when moving around it's best to have everyone /follow your main guy and without one they'll run slightly slower and drop follow. With that said I find all this talk of setting it up odd. I've always used WinEQ 2 and all you have to do is install it, make a profile, configure the res and launch the game through it's icon on the task bar as many times as you have toons, then just alt tab between your guys. You can get it installed and be in game within minutes. 3+ boxing though I can see it being a problem, but I've only played more than 2 when PLing, buffing or porting my main two.
Yes. Difficult, absolutely. Maximizing 4,5,6 toons, absolutely impossible. Does that invalidate [Unmentioned 3rd Party Software] as legitimate software, that does not violate the Eula? Absolutely not.
It's just extremely tedious doing more than 3 at a time. You can have a bard just sit there with /melody going for buffs and not really have to mess with that character much at least, but most characters require a little more work to be useful. I personally don't like levelling more than 3 together, but when actually doing something I would often do more 4+. But, for levelling and xp'ing, I find it extremely tedious.
The use of [Unmentioned 3rd Party Software] has caused suspensions in EQ2, and there is a thread on the eq forums that a person /reported a guildmate, which resulted in a suspension ... https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq/index.php?threads/are-bot-programs-legal.219858/
I think some of these CS reps are talking out of... well,... somewhere with a lack of knowledge. This issue has come up on the forums every season for years now. I believe both Piestro and Roshen have previously said that these programs [[Unmentioned 3rd Party Software], rapid fire, GINA, GamParse, etc.] are all completely compliant *provided* you are actively at the keyboard controlling the action and you're not doing some type of crazy haxx0r [which those programs aren't even capable of doing]. It's not automation. The GMs handing out suspensions for this either have no clue what they're doing or the people posting about these incidents are sugar coating their actual situation and trying to gain sympathy. Devs/Community relations have posted here saying those programs are okay. If they are now magically 'not okay' for whatever reason, it needs to be publicly posted to correct the previous info.
I looked into it and it looks like there are add-ons or plugins for [Unmentioned 3rd Party Software] for EQ2 that when used automate your character, there is no automation plugins for EQ. Might be that those people got banned for using that 24/7, ill guess that if they did use those plugins, they won't come and say they did, like FPS aimbotters claiming they just got skill.
I only see proof of one suspension hearsay of another and was he just using [Unmentioned 3rd Party Software] or [Unmentioned 3rd Party Software] with other things. Also just because one GM said that does not make it true, I would want someone higher to make a statement before I believed it. Someone tweet a Dev maybe we can get a concrete answer
I've done quite a bit of boxing in the past. Never used 3rd party software. Having 2 accounts going at the same time is fairly simple. I generally setup one character as a melee type that can pull and the other as a caster who can support the melee. I find a third account starts splitting attention around. The melee type still pulls and tanks stuff while a second caster type does nothing more then throw nukes and maybe port the group around. The third is generally for buffing and healing only. I can't see myself ever adding a fourth. The focus on each character gets spread out too thin. For TLP 3.0 I'm planning to start with only 1 character. There should be plenty of people on the server to group / raid with and that eliminates the need for boxing in my opinion.
Their policy has always been that boxing is fine, 3rd party apps are fine as long as they don't automate. If you are at the keyboard and controlling the game, then you should be fine. The issue is it is enforced inconsistently. Some GM decides they don't want boxing, so chock it up to third party software. They could also do the same even without the extra software, and simply decide that you were automating something to cheat when you actually ran two instances and manually ran each one. We have all heard of people being accused of cheating/automation because their characters popped across the zone so fast, because the GM didn't know about CoTH, and the 3 mages in the groups who could pull 3 other chars at the same time. It is all up to the GMs, and there won't be any consistency. About the only consistency we do have is the posts from the developers about how they think things should work regarding 3rd party apps. If they change the policy as previously stated, they need to let us know. The inconsistency of their policies is the single biggest reason we don't sign up for more than one month at a time. We just can't count on it being worth paying for so many accounts if the rules change, reducing or eliminating our entertainment.
Boxing has always been fine. The only thing about that has been said about [Unmentioned 3rd Party Software] is a comment by the then Community Manager, Piestro 3 years ago. Since that time though, EQ is run by a different company (although some of the people are the same) and [Unmentioned 3rd Party Software] has changed a lot. It is no longer simple key replication - it is way more than that. If you have doubts about that, look at some of the youtube videos people have posted. Here's a quick link for one of them: Also interesting to note that most of the setup videos tell you to turn off key replication, and just turn it back on the rare occasions that it is needed on the screen in game. The combination of VideoFx and application level virtualization (their words, not mine) make it a far different program than it was when Piestro quickly scanned the [Unmentioned 3rd Party Software] website and determined that it should be ok. Had he actually researched it and set it up and used it, instead of just looking at statements the developer makes on his website, he may have come to a far different conclusion. Of course, people who use the program want to keep using it as it gives them a huge advantage in game, so they reject the notion that it is against the eula. Whether it is or not is a matter of interpretation, but stop saying it is just key replication, because its not. Of course, you have the right to use whatever third party program you wish, just be prepared to get a ton of /reports and disciplinary actions based on your use of this software, whether its for actually using the software or some other reason such as zone disruption, etc. Or you could play it safe and box all you want, but without using third party software to automate game play.
Because the rules are entirely randomly enforced, the only way to play safely is to play FTP. Then no matter what rules they decide to randomly invoke or change, you can just start up another FTP account. When I pay for my entertainment, I expect to be treated reasonably. For years they have said [Unmentioned 3rd Party Software] is fine, and it is HOW YOU USE it. It is a reasonable way to run things.
Yeah and I bet people who run code sniffers and virtualization aren't ever using it in ways that's gives them an advantage either.
I used to 3 box without [Unmentioned 3rd Party Software], and it wasn't so bad. A few years ago a friend showed me [Unmentioned 3rd Party Software] and I haven't looked back since. Being able to put the active character your playing on the main monitor and then having your other 4+ characters on the other monitor while seamlessly switching between all of them with ease makes that worth it by itself. Another perk is being able to screen region other characters hotbars onto the main monitor without having to switch is also awesome. Devs/GMs don't care just as long as you are performing the actions and you aren't using other programs to automate the whole thing. I think Piestro said that as long as you don't use it in conjunction with other well-known "no-no" programs, then you are fine.
